The modern day cosmetic industry focuses on development and application of new materials as raw materials for cosmetics are being depleted. Currently, development of techniques for having new materials and development of cosmetics with high performance are continuously made in the entire cosmetic industry. In particular, the human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) is one of the materials which draw attention of consumers as it has an excellent skin regeneration effect like wrinkle improvement and whitening.
After arriving at adulthood (i.e., around 25 years old), human skin experiences an occurrence of pigmentation, wrinkle, or the like and a progress of skin aging phenomenon as body metabolism or cellular regeneration activity is slowed down. The human epidermal growth factor with excellent skin regeneration effect has been used as a medicinal therapeutic agent for skin regeneration. However, studies are mainly made on use of the human epidermal growth factor as a raw material of functional cosmetics for aging prevention which has an activity of recovering lowered skin regeneration activity and promoting new skin cell growth.
Upon binding to a receptor for an epidermal growth factor present on a surface of a cell, the human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) induces a dimerization of a receptor for an epidermal growth factor. A dimeric receptor for an epidermal growth factor activates the tyrosine kinase present in the receptor to induce an intracellular signal transduction system. As a result of those processes, glycolysis and protein synthesis are promoted in a cell, eventually leading to cell growth.
The epidermal growth factor playing an important role in skin regeneration decreases according to a progress of aging, and a decrease in the epidermal growth factor causes a reduction in skin cell proliferation and transfer, and thus phenomena like skin aging, increased winkles, and reduced skin elasticity are exhibited accordingly.
Botulinum toxin which has been first found from Clostridium botulinum was initially used for medical purpose based on its effect of anesthetizing a motor neuron. In particular, when an extremely amount of botulinum toxin is selectively used for a limited area, it was shown that symptoms related to muscular or neuronal disorder can be treated. Accordingly, Allergan Inc., which is a US pharmaceutical company, provides a commercial product of low-concentration botulinum toxin A in the trade name of Botox. In South Korea, total 4 kinds of botulinum toxin are commercially available, i.e., Botox, Botulex (South Korea), Meditoxin (South Korea), Dysport (Europe), and BTXA (China). Since 1990s, Botox has been known to have an effect of removing skin wrinkle, and thus it is now used all over the world for the purpose of removing skin wrinkle in the field of cosmetic surgery.
In year 2002, Botox has been approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an agent for treating curved lines between eyebrows, and its popularity as a cosmetic treatment agent continues until now. For botulinum toxin which is most popular as a therapeutic agent for improving skin wrinkle in cosmetic industry, an injection treatment is used. However, the biggest disadvantage lies in that the treatment effect prolongs only for 3 to 6 months and it is quite expensive.
In the present invention, to have more effectively prolonged activity of botulinum toxin which has an excellent skin removing effect in the field of cosmetic plastic surgery, development of a new protein to have distinct skin regeneration effect was carried out, in particular. As a result, it was confirmed that a new fusion protein with dual function, which is produced according to binding of a human epidermal growth factor with excellent skin regeneration effect, has maximized skin improvement and accelerated skin regeneration effect.
Meanwhile, in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0144735, a “composition comprising filler and botulinum toxin for improving skin wrinkle or skin aging, or treating neuromuscular disorder” is disclosed. Furthermore, in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2015-0056022, a “cosmetic composition for improving skin comprising fusion protein of epidermal grown factor” is disclosed. However, no description has been made for the botulinum toxin-human epidermal growth factor fusion protein with increased skin cell proliferation and anti-oxidation effect and a cosmetic composition for regenerating skin and improving skin wrinkle comprising the same as effective component of the present invention.